One of last year's most exciting debuts came from a Washington hardcore punk group called G.L.O.S.S. The band's name stands for "Girls Living Outside Society's Shit," and their blistering demo is an aggressive exploration of queer and trans identity (the band has multiple transgender members). The songs' outsider themes—delivered amidst full-sprint rhythms and violent feedback splatters—offer a particular kind of catharsis. They're especially affecting for anyone who has felt marginalized by the suffocating and often toxic pressures of contemporary masculinity.
G.L.O.S.S.'s new-ish jam "Give Violence a Chance" is another powerful listen. Over thrashing guitars and break-neck percussion, frontwoman Sadie Switchblade makes more throat-scraping proclamations, this time about crooked cops, racism, and the limitations of nonviolent protest. Her scary-urgent opening statement sounds desperate but not even a little defeated: When peace is just another word for death, it's our time to give violence a chance.
As Pitchfork pointed out,"Give Violence a Chance" was included on a hard-hitting comp assembled late last year by Not Normal, an Illinois DIY tape label with a simply stated Bandcamp mission statement: "No racist, sexist, or homophobic bullshit." I'd really like to think one day, when the music world proves itself to be anything other than cruel and unaccepting, that sort of philosophy will go without saying. For the two minutes this G.L.O.S.S. song lasts, that day feels a little less out of reach.
